“I like my wind north-westerly, cold and dark”. You can easily believe that Josienne Clarke, who retreated to the Scottish Highlands to record FAR FROM NOWHERE. Their answer to the demands of today’s music business is to focus on the essentials, close to the British folk tradition.
Editorial recommendations
Clarke’s new nightshade plants thrive on barren ground: graceful singing to the nylon string guitar, embedded in ambient noises, plus a gentle beat here, repetitive electric guitar arpeggio there. The monotonously rocking “AI Love You” with its omnichord accents seems almost opulent. With thieving joy, Clarke highlights the emotional ineptitude of AI here, which she counters with the power of human creativity elsewhere.
“I could tear through you with just my tongue / Scorch your skin with things I’ve sung,” says the fragile, beautiful “Tiny Bird’s Lament.” In “In The Dark Of The Night” music becomes light in the darkness. Clarke also shines – all the stronger the more stripped down her songs are. The rawness protects its natural elegance from too much solid euphony. What remains is tender intensity. Thank you, Northwest Wind!
This review first appeared in Musikexpress 11/2025.